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Melvin Van Peebles, Simon Chuckster, Hubert Scales, John Dullaghan, West Gale ... see more see more... , Niva Rochelle , John Amos , Nick Ferrari , Rhetta Hughes , Lavelle Roby , Ed Rue

Produced, directed, written, scored by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles, this landmark "blaxploitation" film was as controversial as it was popular for its then X-rated story of one African-American m... read more read more...an's triumph over the Man. After beating a couple of white cops he witnessed brutalizing a local black revolutionary, sex show performer Sweetback (Van Peebles) has to go on the run. As he flees through decrepit South Central Los Angeles, Sweetback demonstrates his formidable potency through sex as well as violence, evading the police manhunt by any means necessary. As Sweetback runs off into the sunset, however, Van Peebles warns that the story, like the 1960s racial strife, isn't over. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Flixster Users

50% liked it

3,133 ratings

Critics

79% liked it

14 critics

R, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: Melvin Van Peebles

Release Date: January 1, 1971

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DVD Release Date: January 14, 2003

Stats: 267 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (267)

  • cosmo313
    August 28, 2010
    cosmo313
    Let's see: is this a good movie? Well, it's definitely an important film. As far as being "good" though, well...yeah, but it's really rough around the edges, and overall, it's a big mess. But I do applaud the effort, this film's impact, it's influence, and I do find it entertaini... read moreng.

    When I say it's a mess though, I'm not kidding. Some of this is hard to watch, and at times, I had no idea what the hell was going on. I appreciate the techniques being used though, as they add to the tension and the experience of being chased, but I think that they could have done a better job of editing, and toned down the experimental stuff.

    This is a landmark film, and for a lot of reasons. It is often cited as the first Blaxploitation film, and, along with Shaft, and Super Fly, remains one of the highlights of that genre. It's also an important film for African American in general (and African American films and filmaking specifically), and is also a fine example of super low-budget independent guerrilla filmmaking. It's not without it's controversies (and for good reasons), but it's an important film that needs to be seen regardless, especially for those interested in film history and blaxploitation films.

    This is a wild, rough, and crazy mess, but it's also very interesting, entertaining, and just something where it's better to see it than to be talked to about.
  • djdemersseman
    November 28, 2009
    djdemersseman
    A necessary film; not quite necessary viewing. That is, unless you're a blaxploitation film buff, in which case you should look no further. Perhaps more interesting is the story that surrounds it, both in its making and in its reception.

    For instance, he performed all his own st... read moreunts so, for one scene, he jumped off a bridge a total of 9 times. He also performed numerous sex scenes himself, contracting gonorrhea, applying for worker's comp, and using the money to help him complete the funding of the film.

    This was one of the most important films that inspired the later films of the blaxploitation era. Incredibly innovative and creative for its time. It has some of the obvious drawbacks of a film made on a half a million dollar budget but much less than you'd expect for such low-budget film.
    All the more so, considering Melvin van Peebles himself wrote, scored, directed, edited, and starred in the film.
  • matertenebraum
    October 16, 2009
    matertenebraum
    This is a landmark film for many reasons, and although it is rough around the edges, I urge everyone to at least watch it once, and then watch the story of the making of this film, Baadasssss! (A.K.A. How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass), made by the directors son, Mario Van... read more Peebles.

    It is very easy for a modern audience to perhaps overlook this film as one of the slew of 'Blaxpliotation' films produced in the 70s, however this stands out firstly as virtually the originator of that mode of films, and as a crusade for a young, talented black artist and director to make a film that is both honest and challenging about the representation of black people in cinema.

    If nothing else you must respect Melvin Van Peebles for the Guerrilla film making techniques that created this movie.

    This film is a great argument for the importance to minority groups within any society to gain access to and control of media production in order to challenge dominant ideologies and representations put forward in mainstream media.

    It is also virtually impossible to view Baadasssss! without a tear coming to your eyes, so difficult and harrowing was Melvin Van Peebles journey to get this film made.
  • dhetteix
    January 3, 2008
    dhetteix
    On one hand, a vibrant but muddled fugitive-on-the-run story... on the other, a remarkable cultural milestone. Independent, amazingly low-budget and experimental, Van Peebles work influenced the way in which African-Americans would break the color-barrier in film by directly spaw... read morening the Blaxploitation genre.

    That said, this movie is NOT Blaxploitation, instead having all the earmarks of an independent experimental film... Blaxploitation was merely Hollywood's response to this movies groundbreaking thematic content. To look at this movie without context, only looking at its technical execution, loses much of what made it powerful. While later films would also have low-budgets and deal with similar militant themes, they nowhere near reached the raw content and reality of this film: Peebles' actually contracted Gonorrhea from the sex-scenes in the film, for god sakes. There are some movies which would be impossible to ever duplicate, and Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song proudly stands as one of them.
  • lesleyanorton
    October 9, 2009
    lesleyanorton
    Wow, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I don't think it was this. A landmark of cinema, this film doesn't pull any punches, from the first memorable scene where young Sweetback gets his name, via a bunch of violence, sex and racism, through to the second half which mostly i... read morenvolves running a lot. An Earth Wind and Fire soundtrack, but you won't be hearing any of their hits. One of a kind. .
  • TobiasXimenez
    August 4, 2010
    TobiasXimenez
    A truly independent vision and the cornerstone of blaxploitation cinema.
  • threefolddado
    May 16, 2008
    threefolddado
    After hearing all the hype, I was a bit let down.
  • kingmob6
    June 28, 2011
    kingmob6
    I think I have to respect this film more for what it started that for what it actually is, as there's a good amount of padding and filler strewn throughout that I could honestly do without. Long stretches of LSD inspired color fiddling and jazz noodling on the soundtrack as Swee... read moretback runs through the city isn't as compelling as I'm sure it's meant to be, but this film started a whole new trend in cinema, so I have to give it its due for that much.

    Worth a look, but a rental might be advised.
  • nickmarino82
    September 11, 2010
    nickmarino82
    I know this is supposed to be the one that started it all for blaxploitation flicks... but it barely even makes sense. it's a fun film experiment, for sure, but as a narrative, it's a mess. i'm glad it exists because of what came after, but in and of itself, i'm not a huge fan.
  • HuskersNC949597
    April 15, 2010
    HuskersNC949597
    More like Sweet Sweetback's Blaackasssss Dong, amirite? Sort of? Yeah, it's mostly Melvin Van Peebles having sex, to the extent that he contracted gonorrhea. Way to go, MVP, I have no idea how we connect the dots to arrive at the civil rights being demanded by filming yourself... read more having sex with so many people you caught a disease, but I hope it was worth opening the door for movies like "White Chicks". Even better with that opening sequence of your something-like-8 years old son and. . .uh. . .a hooker. But anyway, I don't mind the fighting of oppression and whathaveyou, but this wasn't very interesting, however if nothing else it served its purpose and now guys like Spike Lee can make movies without resorting to putting children in scenes that could land you in jail. But those Wayans Bros. . . .

View All Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Reviews

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
March 13, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

A shrewd and powerful mix of commercial ingredients and ideological intent. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 21, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Instead of dramatizing injustice, Van Peebles merchandizes it. Full Review

March 13, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A landmark in Black filmmaking in the U.S., this angry, extravagant, loud, belligerent movie reaches a high pitch early on and stays there. Full Review

Geoff Andrew
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Totally uncompromising and grindingly repetitive, the film nevertheless accumulates a kind of hallucinatory groove, with unexpected shafts of bizarre humour and vigorous, experimental new wave direction. Full Review

Richard Luck
March 15, 2005
Richard Luck, Film4

Even 30-odd years on, the picture still has more than a whiff of rebellion about it. Full Review

Christian Toto
November 28, 2004
Christian Toto, Washington Times

"Song" broke ground for minorities, not for filmmaking

Christopher Null
September 19, 2004
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

Melvin van Peebles' blaxploitation 'classic' still doesn't fare well by either artistic standards or simple good taste, but any student of the genre is well advised to check it out. Full Review

Rumsey Taylor
February 18, 2003
Rumsey Taylor, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

It is style, glamour, and even virtuosic direction (in the inclusive use of so many familiar techniques) that paves Sweetback's value as a timepiece - its lasting, testimonial contribution is its posi... Full Review

James Kendrick
February 3, 2002
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk

a revolutionary movie not because it's about one man's defiance, but because it put front-and-center black issues that had never been dealt with before Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

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  • Baadasssss! tells the story of Melvin Van Peebles as he tries to make which movie?  Answer »
  • Is this a real movie title? Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971...maybe)  Answer »
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